The United States has never beaten Guatemala or Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier away from home, going 0-3-3 in six qualifying matches over the past 15 years.

In all away games against those two nations, the United States is 1-8-4. So on paper, at least, the Americans begin their campaign to play in their fourth straight World Cup finals with the two toughest matches of The Football Confederation’s semifinal round: July 16 in Guatemala and July 23 in Costa Rica.

The top two teams in the four-team, six-game round advance to the final stage of qualifying, and since Barbados is unlikely to register any victories, winning at least one of those first two matches is critical. U.S. coach Bruce Arena, however, warned against putting too much emphasis on them.

“Any opening game in qualification is important, but if you follow the patterns in the past, all of these rounds go down to the fifth and sixth games anyway,” Arena said. “It’s not over after one match, one way or the other.”

Besides working against history, the U.S. team faces two basic challenges – assembling a lineup from a somewhat battered pool of players and minimizing hassles in distraction-filled countries.


CHOOSING A FORWARD. The first order of business when the team convenes for camp a week before its July 16 qualifier in Guatemala is to find a replacement for forward Brian McBride, who suffered a broken cheekbone in an MLS game June 17.

“It’s a loss – he’s played very well,” Arena said. “When we name the roster, we should have three options to replace McBride and I think whatever we come up with will work. We’ve had enough players get experience over the past six months to prepare them for this game.”

Arena does not have another player with McBride’s ability to nod headballs to teammates, and Joe-Max Moore, who displayed a fine finishing touch in with Everton of the Premier League, is just returning from a knee injury and will not be fit in time for either game. McBride’s aerial game and crisp, open-field passing has proved to be an excellent foil for the dashing runs of striking partner Cobi Jones and right flanker Earnie Stewart.

Ante Razov appears to be the leading candidate to start alongside Jones based on his performance at U.S. Cup, in which he scored twice. Although Razov is similar in stature to McBride, he plays a different game.

“I think Ante’s aerial game, even though he’s a big guy, is actually one of his weaknesses,” U.S. assistant coach Dave Sarachan said. “He has gotten better at playing with his back to the goal, though, and he does very well facing the defense.”

Jason Kreis is the other forward likely to be included in the roster, and Arena will probably experiment with him and Razov to see who combines best with Jones. Tony Sanneh is also an option, should a heading presence become a priority.


THE HEART OF THE D. Next on the agenda is to determine which of the team’s central defenders is healthy and in form. All three of the leading candidates to play the right central position are trying to recover from injuries. The left-footed central defenders – Jeff Agoos, Gregg Berhalter and Greg Vanney – are all healthy.

Carlos Llamosa, who paired with Agoos in the final game of U.S. Cup, has been out almost a month with a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee and although he is near to returning, he may not be in top form.

Eddie Pope underwent minor knee surgery early in the MLS season, but has played well recently. When asked if Pope was fully fit, Arena replied, “I don’t think he’s 100 percent, but I don’t know too many players who are at this time of year.”

Fraser has been playing for Los Angeles after missing U.S. Cup with a sprained ankle. Sarachan said Fraser is one of the more flexible backs in terms of which central position he plays. C.J. Brown did not have a good outing in the rainy conditions against Ireland in U.S. Cup, but he has been a regular since Arena took over in October 1998.

“We’ve had a group together a long time. If we need to make two or three changes, four or five changes, we’re fine,” Arena said. “I don’t think it’s as critical or as sophisticated as people want to make it out to be. … I’m not trying to figure out a bunch of lineups right now, my main objective is to get the 18 concluded and within that 18 I feel very confident in anybody we put on the field.”


CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT. Guatemala changed the date and venue of its game less than two weeks before it was to be played. Instead of playing in Guatemala City on Saturday, July 15, as originally scheduled, the teams will meet in the town of Mazatenango, small enough that it has no hotels.

While there was no definitive reason for the switch, U.S. Soccer officials believe it may be to play in a hotter climate. U.S. general manager Pam Perkins said it was the latest change of date or venue she has seen in her three years with the team. Arena did not try to speculate about Guatemala’s specific reasoning.

“I’ve got to believe that [moving the site] is gamesmanship all the way,” Arena said. “You can call it gamesmanship, you can call it cheating, you can call it whatever you want – we’ve got to have our guards up. … Coming out of the gate right away, we can see that it’s going to be this kind of operation and we can’t expect any support from The Football Confederation … so we’re kind of on our own.”

Arena had originally planned to fly to Guatemala on the day before the game and fly out the day of the game, thus leaving as little time as possible for distractions. He insisted U.S. Soccer use a charter plane for the team, a choice that turned out to be even wiser once the switch was made.


THE LOGISTICS. Now, since there is a substantial bus ride (2-3 hours) from Guatemala City to Mazatenango, the team will have to spend two nights in the country. Regardless, Arena’s streamlining approach is different from the way several U.S. coaches have gone about traveling in the past.

“There are two ways to go about it,” Agoos said. “One is to get there early to get acclimated and understand the environment a little better, the other is to get in there and get out. Personally, I’d rather get in and get out just because it’s tough to be there for a long period of time.

“Just the every day stuff. You stay in your hotel room all day, you pretty much only get out for training. Mentally, I think it’s easier an thing if you’re there for a short amount of time. … Bruce is one of the best coaches I’ve had as far as knowing what the players want on that side of things.”

Sarachan, while relatively new to the national team, praised USSF for improving the way it handles playing in semi-hostile environments. As soon as Mazatenango was approved as the site, Perkins flew to inspect the venue. Reports she had heard indicated the field surface was good. Still, Arena remained wary.

“We are continually naive about the fact that everybody’s out to get one up on you,” Arena said. “They’ll play by the rules or won’t play by them. You need to have the flexibility within your organization to make changes quickly.”

by Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns